EDINBURGH 2026: Review: THE SECOND BEST SCHOOL SHOOTING, Pleasance Courtyard
The Second Best School Shooting runs at Edfringe until 30 August
School has been cancelled for three days due to a school shooting. The shooter was apprehended before he harmed anyone, and Ava feels a little…cheated. On the same day in the same area, another school had a shooting where 15 people lost their lives and Ava is a little put out that they’re the ones getting all the attention.
Playwright Alice Stanley Jr was a school teacher in Chicago, so she knows a little about what students are facing. A young man with a manifesto was tackled when he brought a firearm into the school. Teenage besties Ava and Parker try to process what happened in their own way. Ava’s version of activism seems to involve her seeking likes on Tiktok and her friend Parker is reluctant to get involved even though she believes in the cause.
There’s a lot to like about The Second Best School Shooting. The juxtaposition of whether to fight for social change or study for a physics test highlights the absurd situations young people are dealing with today. Where it falls down slightly is the pacing. We start with a strong start- a gunshot. The final scene is intense and powerful but it lags in the middle. Both actors give a good performance if a little too over the top at times.
Another area where this play does well is the representation of how people deal with trauma differently. Both girls are trying to handle things in their own way but they’re young and haven’t quite worked out what that is yet.
The Second Best School Shooting has buckets of potential and some really insightful moments as to what young people in the US face on a daily basis.
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